St. Francis Woodlands, a former Franciscan Friars property in the Staten Island Greenbelt, is full of hidden ecological treasures.
The 25-acre property features a 0.4-mile elevated boardwalk and viewing platform that make the forested environment and upland swamp habitats accessible to all visitors.
The boardwalk trail traverses forested areas, goes over freshwater wetlands and streams, and encircles Priory Pond. These forests and waterbodies provide crucial breeding habitat for many species of wildlife.
Mallard Duck, Red-bellied Woodpecker, ground hog, spring peeper, painted turtle, snapping turtle, skunk, fox, opossum, and brown bullhead catfish can be spotted in or near Priory Pond.
And despite its small size, more than 30 species of birds breed among the site’s native upland trees and shrubs, including sweet gum, maples, oaks, hickories, and spicebush.
Religious History
The Franciscans who owned the property – officially known as the Order of Friars Minor Conventual – were part of a still active worldwide male Catholic order founded by Francis of Assisi, in Italy in 1209.
The Franciscan Friars owned the property until the late-1990s, when they sold the land to the state for $10 million, sparing it from luxury residential development. They kept an adjoining five-acre seminary and friary complex.
The Friars had purchased the property in the 1920s for a regional headquarters, and opened St. Francis Seminary and Friary there in 1928.
Facing rising maintenance costs and declining membership, the Friary ended their use of the complex in 2014. It sat vacant and unused for nearly two years until it was purchased in April 2016 by the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of New York and New England.
The Staten Island Greenbelt
The former Franciscan woodlands are now part of the 2,800-acre Staten Island Greenbelt, a contiguous area of public park lands and natural areas in the central hills of Staten Island, the second largest park area owned by the people of New York City and one of the largest urban nature preserves in the United States.
The Greenbelt is maintained by the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation and the Greenbelt Conservancy, a nonprofit founded in 1989 which works with NYC Parks maintain and fund the Greenbelt and its programs.
You can watch a drone flyover video of the elevated boardwalk trail here.
Learn more about visiting St. Francis Woodlands here.
Read more New York Almanack stories about Staten Island
Photos of Priory Pond (left) and the accessible boardwalk at St. Francis Woodlands, part of the Staten Island Greenbelt by Melissa Cohen, DEC Region 2.
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